


The Sky's Not the Limit

by ArcherAmpharos



Category: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time & Explorers of Darkness & Explorers of Sky
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Friendship, Post-Game(s), Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:08:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28492890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArcherAmpharos/pseuds/ArcherAmpharos
Summary: Months after they prevented the collapse of Temporal Tower, the formerly-human Cyndaquil and his partner are reunited thanks to Dialga's intervention. But Team Sunrise still has many more adventures ahead of them, as they return to being best friends, teammates... and maybe something more.
Relationships: Partner Pokemon/Player Character (Pokemon Mystery Dungeon)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

Melody rolled over a bit in her simple straw bed, looking around the crew room that she and her partner stayed in. She glanced at the Cyndaquil quietly sleeping in the room's other bed. Flynn seemed to have fallen asleep pretty quickly. Melody was tired as well, but all the thoughts rolling around her head made it hard to sleep.

 _(It's still hard to believe he's really back,)_ the Skitty thought. _(I... I was sure I'd never get to see him again after what happened at Temporal Tower, but... there he is, alive and well.)_

It had been nearly four months since the duo had stopped Temporal Tower's collapse and prevented the planet's paralysis. They had changed the future... but since Flynn was from a future that would no longer come to pass, he had vanished from existence as a result. Melody didn't even know it was going to happen until it had already started. In the moment, she tried to tell him how much he really meant to her, but... the words just wouldn't come out.

The months since then had been rough. _(When I first returned to Treasure Town, I was... barely holding myself together,)_ she thought bluntly. She told everyone what had happened, and every time she had to tell the story, she struggled to recount Flynn's disappearance without breaking down. Over time, she'd slowly managed to make progress, getting back into her usual routine and trying to move on. Flynn had wanted her to go on living, and she had tried her best, but... she had missed him so much...

They had been a team for months, working together every day, protecting each-other and keeping each-other company. Flynn had helped her to be brave, and encouraged her to keep going when everything seemed hopeless. They had literally saved the world together. Suddenly losing Flynn after all that... Melody had felt like a piece of her was missing.

Then, just a few hours ago, Melody had been at the beach on the outskirts of town, tearfully thinking about all their time together. Bidoof had found her after a while, and he tried to comfort her, but it only helped a little. Partly because it was yet another thing that reminded her of Flynn.

After a minute or two like that, Bidoof cried out in shock, pointing a paw at a spot farther down the beach. Melody slowly got to her feet, turning to look at whatever it was. There was a bright, glowing light coming from... something, but the light was blinding enough that she couldn't see exactly what it was. After a few moments, the light faded away... and in its place, glancing around in confusion, was Flynn. When he noticed the Skitty, his confusion faded and he silently gave her a warm smile.

Melody stood there in shock for a few seconds, unable to process what she was seeing. Her legs were shaky as she walked up and reached out a paw to the Cyndaquil, desperately hoping he wasn't just a dream or a hallucination. Flynn rested a paw on her back, and she broke down again, crying tears of joy into Flynn's side.

Neither of them was really certain how he had returned exactly. Flynn said he'd heard Dialga's voice just as he regained consciousness, but he couldn't make out what exactly Dialga had said. Their best guess was that Dialga had revived Flynn because of everything he and Melody had done to prevent Temporal Tower's collapse. But if Flynn was truly alive again, that was enough for Melody; she didn't need to know exactly how and why.

 _(We can go back to how things were. We can continue our guild training together, exploring dungeons, helping other Pokemon... I-I have my best friend back.)_ The Skitty let out a wistful sigh. _(But... in my heart, I'd still like us to be... more than that. I have no idea if he feels the same way, though.)_

She had wanted to maybe tell him how she felt after they'd saved Temporal Tower and things had calmed down again, but... that hadn't worked out, obviously. Now she had another chance, but... _(Should I risk it? What if he doesn't feel the same way? Especially considering he used to be human... What if I just make everything awkward between us? Is it worth the risk?)_

Melody's train of thought was interrupted a little as she had to stifle a yawn. She was abruptly reminded just how late it was, and how tired she felt after everything that had happened that day. _(I really should try and get some sleep,)_ she thought, settling back down onto her bed and trying to get comfortable. _(Someday... I do want to tell Flynn how much he really means to me. But for the moment, at least... I'm just happy to have our friendship back...)_

* * *

"Up and AT 'EM! It's MORNING!"

"Ugh..."

The morning after Flynn's return, he awoke to the sound of Loudred's usual wake-up call, followed by a tired groan from his partner. Letting out a quiet yawn, Flynn slowly got up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes before glancing around. Team Sunrise's room was pretty much the same as he remembered, despite the time that had apparently passed since he disappeared. A warm smile formed on his face as his gaze turned to Melody, who was slowly getting out of bed as well. Flynn greeted his tired partner. "Good morning."

The Skitty jolted in surprise briefly when she heard Flynn, before remembering what had happened the night before. She turned to him and returned his smile. "Morning, Flynn." After a moment of hesitation, she walked up and nuzzled his side. "I-I'm really glad you're back. I really missed you."

Flynn happily returned the nuzzle. It had taken the former human a while to get used to that, but like with many other things since becoming a pokemon, he'd adapted eventually. "I missed you too."

They stayed like that for a few seconds, before Melody quietly said, "We, uh... We should probably get going, or else we'll be late for the morning briefing." She pulled away, walking over to the team's treasure bag and settling it on her back. Flynn thought he noticed a slight blush on her cheeks, but it might have just been his imagination.

* * *

Later that day, the duo made their way to Amp Plains. They'd picked out a rescue request from an Eevee, who had ventured into the dungeon hoping to find a thunder stone and had fainted. Thankfully, the Electrike tribe shouldn't be around this time of year, so the area shouldn't be too dangerous, but the team remained cautious nonetheless.

As was usual for Team Sunrise, Flynn led the way, keeping an eye out for wild pokemon and traps and picking which directions to go. Melody followed close behind, carrying the treasure bag on her back. She quietly hummed a tune to herself as she walked, but she stayed alert in case any wild pokemon tried to sneak up from behind. In general, though, they were able to handle the opponents around here without much trouble. Most foes fainted easily to a Flamethrower or Flame Wheel from Flynn, or a Double Slap or Feint Attack from Melody. Even if two or three wilds appeared together, Melody could Sing one to sleep to help even the odds.

Still, Melody was a little nervous. Partly because of the memories of the close call they'd had the first time they came here, and partly because of the general atmosphere of the area. The air was charged with electricity, and dark storm clouds loomed overhead. It probably seemed like a pretty nice place to be, if you're an electric-type, but Melody couldn't help but be a little on-edge.

 _(At least I have Flynn with me,)_ she thought. Having him by her side always made her feel stronger and braver. While he was gone, she'd had to team up with the other apprentices in the guild, and while they were all good friends and helpful teammates, it just wasn't the same.

After several floors, they stopped to rest near the stairs for a few moments before continuing. Flynn grabbed a couple apples out of the treasure bag and gave one to Melody. She decided to break the silence just as they finished eating, asking a question she'd been holding onto for quite a while. "How long did you know... that you were going to disappear?"

Flynn flinched, and he averted his gaze to stare at the floor. "...Dusknoir told me, when you left to activate the stoneship."

Melody sighed. "...I want to say you should have told me then. But at the same time... if you had, I'm not sure I would have had the resolve to do what we needed to do. So maybe it's for the best that you didn't."

"...Still, I'm sorry."

Shaking her head, Melody moved a little closer to Flynn. "Just... please don't hide something like that from me again."

Flynn nodded. "I promise."

"And... I know you can't promise that nothing will ever happen to you, but... please, try not to leave again."

"I wouldn't dream of it," he replied, smiling warmly at her. Melody smiled back, and they remained like that for a few moments, gazes locked. Melody opened her mouth to say something, but ultimately stayed silent.

The duo were so distracted that they failed to notice a wild Mareep approaching until it launched a Thunder Wave at Flynn, paralyzing him. Melody recoiled in surprise, but quickly focused, turning to the Mareep. She dodged out of the way of a Thundershock, before retaliating with a Thunderbolt of her own, which dealt full damage thanks to Melody's Normalize ability. The Mareep collapsed, and after she was sure it had fainted, Melody returned her attention to Flynn.

The Cyndaquil grimaced, struggling to move his muscles. This was far from the first time he'd been inflicted with paralysis like this, and he knew the effects would wear off in a few minutes. In the meantime, he'd just have to deal with it, unless they had a cheri berry or a spare heal seed. But Melody had her own suggestion. "I can cure it. Just give me a moment."

Flynn wasn't sure what she had in mind, but he managed to give a small nod with a bit of effort. After a moment, Melody started to sing. It sounded different from when she used Sing to put enemies to sleep, or the rare occasions he heard her sing normally. This tune had a soothing, almost bell like quality to it. It was nice.

 _(But then again, Melody's singing always sounds nice,)_ Flynn thought.

Strangely, his paralysis started clearing up. Soon, he found he could move normally again, just as Melody finished. He tilted his head, and she answered his silent question. "That was Heal Bell. I learned it a few weeks ago. It only heals status ailments, not actual damage, but it's handy for conserving supplies."

Flynn nodded, and the two of them got ready to continue up the stairs. They'd lingered a little too long on this floor, and the wind was beginning to pick up, which was a sign they needed to move on before that floor of the dungeon shifted.

The rest of the mission went pretty smoothly. They found the client a couple floors later, curled up in the corner of a room. He panicked briefly when Melody called out to him, but quickly calmed down when he saw their badges and treasure bag. "Whew! You two must be here to rescue me?"

"That's right," Melody replied. Flynn let her do the talking, as usual.

"Awesome! Thanks, uh..." The Eevee trailed off, not recognizing the explorer's species.

"I'm Skitty, and my partner here is Cyndaquil." Melody refrained from giving him their personal names, since he was only a client. She and Flynn were more open with their names than most pokemon, but still.

Eevee thanked the duo again, and Flynn used his badge to warp the three of them out. They still had to walk the rest of the way back to Treasure Town, but the Eevee was just glad to be out of that dungeon, so he didn't mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been posting this on fanfiction.net for a couple months now, but I decided to look into this site as a backup, after FFN had some site trouble a while back. And, well, I figure I may as well post this here, too. More chances for people to see it and potentially leave feedback.
> 
> This is my first real attempt at writing anything like this, and I know that it's not really all that good. But all things considered, I'm reasonably happy with how this is turning out so far. Though it's taken a lot of adjustments, polishing, and refining to even get it to this point.
> 
> After the first few chapters like this focusing on the time-skip after the ending, the post-game will still basically follow the same path as in the game, but with my own slight spin on it to keep things interesting. I've had bits of ideas and headcanon for a story like this building up for quite some time, but not enough to really make an adaptation of the full game.
> 
> The first four chapters have already been posted on FFN, so I'll be posting those over the next few days, and then new chapters will go up when they are ready.
> 
> Comments and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated. I'm not sure that I'd be very likely to write more stories after this (...Maybe a oneshot or two connected to this, but we'll see), but I'd at least like to try to make this story as good as I can.


	2. Chapter 2

The next few days passed fairly uneventfully, the guild members going about their work as normal. Flynn was glad for the return to their old routine after the whole time gear crisis. To everyone else, that had happened months ago, but from his perspective, it had been less than a week ago that he and Melody had fought Primal Dialga.

The guild had just finished dinner, and everyone was currently gathered around, chatting and hanging out together before they'd have to head to bed. Sunflora was in the middle of recounting the mission she and Loudred had done that day.

"...We finally found the pokemon we were supposed to rescue. But then Loudred over here..." she paused, giving Loudred an annoyed glare. "...calls out to her too loudly, and the poor thing just ran off as fast as she could! Oh my gosh, she was terrified!"

Loudred rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Hey, I SAID I was sorry, didn't I? And we still rescued her before she ran into any MORE wild pokemon."

"That's not the point! We were supposed to help her, not give her a heart attack!"

Flynn heard a soft laugh from beside him, and turned to look at Melody. She had an amused smile on her face, and whispered to him, "Those two never change..." He smiled back and nodded.

"ANYWAY!" Loudred got everyone's attention before continuing, "Surely someone ELSE has an interesting story to share?"

"Hey hey, how about Team Sunrise?" Corphish suggested. "How have you two been doing, now that your team's back together?"

Melody shrunk back slightly at having the whole room's attention on her, but quickly recovered. "Well, we fought a Golduck outlaw today. He wasn't too tough, but he did manage to catch Flynn with a desperate Hydro Pump towards the end of the fight. Sent him flying right into the wall..." She glanced over at the Cyndaquil by her side. She had been worried for him when he got hit, but by the time she'd finished knocking out the outlaw, Flynn was already stubbornly getting to his feet again. He quietly reassured her he was fine, though she still insisted he have one of the oran berries they'd brought.

"Golly, that must have hurt," Bidoof said with a wince. "You're sure you're alright, now?"

Now everyone was looking at Flynn. After a moment, he nodded silently in response. There was a brief pause, as though the rest of the group expected him to say something, but he didn't.

Loudred chuckled at that. "That's Flynn for you. Hardly a WORD to say, even after something like THAT!"

The Cyndaquil shifted a little in embarrassment. He knew he tended to be... rather quiet. It's just how he was. He was a little more talkative when it was just him and Melody, but he usually let her do most of the talking in situations like this.

Noticing his reaction, Loudred tried to clarify. "Not that that's a BAD thing. I just..." He looked over at Sunflora, who was glaring at him again.

"I think what Loudred here is _trying_ to say, is... we're glad you're back, Flynn." Sunflora smiled warmly at Team Sunrise. "The guild really wasn't the same without you."

"Yeah, hey hey," Corphish agreed. "You might not really talk much, but you're a good 'mon, and it's nice having you around."

Bidoof nodded as well, smiling widely. "Yup yup! We all missed you, by golly."

One by one, the others added their own sentiments. Flynn smiled sheepishly, before quietly responding, "...Thanks, you guys." Everyone at the guild had been shocked at his sudden return, of course, but they'd all been thrilled to see him again, and had welcomed him back with open arms. Chimecho had even prepared an extra special dinner to celebrate the evening after he'd returned. While Flynn wasn't as close with all of them as he was with Melody, he considered them all friends, and they really made the guild feel like a home.

They all kept chatting for a while, about various topics. Eventually, the apprentices all started getting tired, and Chatot shooed them all off to their respective rooms for the night.

Flynn was close to dozing off when he heard a light rustling noise coming from Melody's direction. Curious, he rolled over to look, and saw Melody writing on a piece of paper using a pencil held in her mouth. _(A letter, maybe? I remember seeing her sending a letter out a few times in the past, and getting a couple of letters back. She said they were from her family, but I never really got around to asking about it beyond that.)_

After a few minutes she seemed to finish whatever she was writing, tucking the pencil and paper away before walking back to her bed with a yawn. She was a little surprised to see Flynn watching her, though. "Oh, I thought you were already asleep, Flynn. Uh, I didn't wake you up, did I?"

Flynn shook his head. "Don't worry. What were you writing, though?"

Her gaze turned back towards where she left the paper. "I was just writing a letter to my family. It's been a little while since my last letter, but... Well, there's some pretty important good news to share." She turned back to her partner with a soft smile, which he returned.

"What's your family like?" Flynn asked.

"Have I not told you about them before?" Melody cocked her head a little. Now that she thought about it, she probably hadn't.

Flynn shrugged. "I probably should have asked, at some point."

"Well, Mom's a Delcatty - that's the evolved form of Skitty - and Dad's a Persian. And I have a little sister who's a Meowth." Melody figured they probably wouldn't mind her telling Flynn their personal names, but just in case she stuck to species names. "They live in a small town, a bit less than a day's walk from here. It's a pretty cozy place, though not a lot goes on. But I had always wanted to join Wigglytuff's Guild, so I eventually sent a request for a team to escort me to Treasure Town. My family was kinda sad to see me leave, but they knew how much I wanted to be an explorer. Mom and Dad even gave me some basic supplies and a bit of money for the trip."

Her expression soured a bit as she continued. "Of course, when I got to town, I... couldn't work up the courage to actually join the guild. So I needed somewhere to stay, and I managed to find that little den in Sharpedo Bluff. I kept going back to the guild a lot, but I was too scared to actually get past the front gate. And then one day, I found you on the beach, and... well, you know the rest."

Flynn nodded. "Was it lonely, without your family around?"

"Yeah, but we do try to keep in touch with letters. Though I... probably don't write as much as I should. Since we joined the guild, I mostly only have a good chance to try to write them at night like this... if I remember to, and if I'm not too tired by then. I've been writing to them more these last few months, though. And they did actually come visit the guild once while... you were gone." Melody's ears drooped as she thought back to that. They'd been pretty worried about her, and she couldn't blame them. Even from just her letters, it had been clear to them how distraught she was after losing Flynn.

She shook her head, not really wanting to dwell on those memories again. "A-Anyway, they had really wanted to get to meet you, after everything I'd told them about you. They can't just easily come here whenever they want, but now that you're back, I'm sure they'll want to visit again when they have a chance."

Flynn smiled. "I'll look forward to it."

For now, though, they were both tired, and they knew they'd have to get up early the next morning, like always. Melody let out a yawn. "We probably shouldn't stay up much longer, or we'll regret it in the morning." She curled up on her bed. "'Night, Flynn."

"Goodnight."

* * *

Melody let out a loud sigh of relief as the light from the escape orb faded, leaving her and Flynn just outside the entrance to Midnight Forest. Melody let herself collapse into the grass. "Oof. That... did _not_ go as smoothly as I'd hoped."

Flynn nodded in agreement, sitting down next to her. He wasn't as hurt as his partner was, but he had still taken a lot of hits. Chatot had told them a new dungeon had been found, and no-one had fully explored it yet. Melody had jumped at the chance to check it out, and since the dungeon was apparently mostly full of bug-types, Flynn had expected it wouldn't be too hard thanks to his type advantage.

It... wasn't that simple. For one thing, as the name implied, Midnight Forest was quite dark. The treetops blocked out most of the sunlight, and while Flynn's fire helped, there were still a lot of dark corners for wild pokemon to hide in. Melody had been almost glued to his side the whole time they were in there. He had noticed her trembling a few times, but she was determined to keep going.

In addition to the darkness, the wild pokemon were fairly strong. Many of them could also chip away at the explorers from across the room with Silver Wind, while flying out of the way of any ranged attacks they tried. They'd gotten fifteen floors in, but they had burned through most of their supplies in the process, and they ultimately decided to just use an escape orb rather than risk trying to go any further for now.

Flynn glanced over at Melody with a bit of concern. "You alright?" Unlike him, she didn't have a type-resistance to help soften the damage they'd been taking.

She nodded, giving him a slightly strained smile. "A bit sore, but I'll be fine. Though I wouldn't mind resting for a couple minutes before we start heading back."

"Sounds good to me."

"It's a little disappointing that we couldn't make it through." Melody said with a sigh. She perked back up quickly, though. "But... we can always try again, sometime. We underestimated this dungeon a bit, but I'm sure we can manage to get through there with the right preparations. And just imagine what could be waiting at the end! Surely a place like this has to be hiding something special!" She stood back up partway through her words, staring back at the dungeon's entrance.

Flynn couldn't help but smile at the sheer excitement and enthusiasm in her voice. _(She really loves exploring like this._ _I mean, I enjoy it too, but this is her dream._ _Even after how long we've been exploring, every now and then she just gets all starry-eyed like this...)_ An odd, but pleasant sort of warmth filled his chest as he looked at her. _  
_

Melody turned back towards Flynn. She felt a bit embarrassed after her little outburst. She sat back down, blushing a little. "A-Anyway, I suppose that's all assuming that you'd even want to try this dungeon again."

"Of course," he replied with a nod.

The two of them rested there for a little while, sitting a short distance apart, which gave Flynn some time to just think. He couldn't quite manage to get that image of Melody out of his head, though. There had actually been several times like this, especially lately, that he'd caught himself just... thinking about her. To be honest, she was... kind of cute. And as close of friends as they were, he wondered, sometimes, if his feelings went... farther than that. But he usually tried not to think about it too much. Considering he used to be a human, it still just felt somewhat weird to even think about that kind of thing.

_(On the other hand, though... I don't really remember anything from back then. Just my name, and the fact that I was originally a human. Even after Grovyle and Dusknoir told me bits of what I'd done, and what I'd been like, I still can't remember any of it. Every moment of my life that I can actually remember has been spent as a Cyndaquil.)_

_(...At this point, I wouldn't want to go back to being human, even if I could. I like this life, and I've gotten used to being a pokemon. So... would it really be that strange to... to fall in love with one?)_

_(I mean... Melody has been with me literally as long as I can remember. She's kind, and cheerful, and easy to talk to. We're a good team, and I enjoy her company. And while she can still be timid at times, she has a lot of courage deep down, and I know I can always count on her when we're in a pinch.)_

_(And... she is pretty, too,)_ he admitted to himself. _(Even if I only think that because I'm a Cyndaquil, now... it's still true.)_

"Flynn?"

Melody's voice startled Flynn out of his thoughts. He jolted, hastily turning towards her. She smiled apologetically. "Sorry. I was just going to ask if you were ready to start heading back."

Flynn calmed down, nodding in response and getting to his feet. "Right. Sorry, I was just... thinking."

Thankfully, Melody didn't question further, just nodding back as they started the long trek back to Treasure Town. Flynn shook his head, trying to refocus his thoughts. But he still couldn't help but glance back at his partner again. She smiled gently at him, and the odd feeling in his chest came back in full force.

He still wasn't certain how far his feelings went, exactly. But... _(If... If I'm really honest with myself... I think I'm falling for her.)_


	3. Chapter 3

Team Sunrise did return to Midnight Forest a few days after their first attempt, and managed to make it through, thanks to coming much better prepared. Luminous orbs to light up the dungeon, zinc bands to better withstand the barrage of Silver Winds, a bigger stash of healing items, and a little bit more luck than they'd had last time.

At the end of the dungeon, they reached a clearing with several rare kinds of berries growing. While colbur, kasib, and enigma berries weren't particularly helpful for Team Sunrise, the Kecleon brothers were willing to buy them for a decent price. Not quite as grand a discovery as Melody had hoped for, but not bad. At least now they knew how deep the dungeon was, and what was at the end, and they could share that knowledge with other explorers.

Days and eventually weeks continued to pass in a steady rhythm. The nature of their guild work ensured they never truly had a dull day, whether they were rescuing a lost pokemon, or tracking down a wanted outlaw, or whatever other tasks needed doing.

They only had one day of sentry duty in that time, thankfully. Neither of them were all that good at identifying footprints, but then again, neither was... most of the guild other than Diglett, really. It wasn't really a skill they practiced much. Sentry duty was also rather boring, just sitting in the sentry post all day watching for visitors. Though at least they had each other for company.

One evening, after a particularly exhausting mission, Melody was barely keeping herself awake by the time they got back to the guild. It didn't help that she hadn't slept very well the night before. As they waited for Chimecho to finish dinner, the Skitty tiredly rested her head on Flynn's side, almost starting to doze off. Flynn blushed, though he didn't exactly _mind_ her leaning on him like that. After a while, Melody realized what she was doing, jolting to her feet and whispering an embarrassed apology. Though she was a little too late, as a few of the other guild members had already noticed. Sunflora in-particular had found the scene adorable, and had continued to lightheartedly tease the two of them about it since then, much to their embarrassment.

* * *

On this particular day, just over a month after Flynn's return, they'd accepted an escort request from a Smeargle, who wanted to see Crystal Cave.

"Oh, wow! Look at all this!" The Smeargle looked around in awe, admiring the surroundings. The walls and ceiling were all composed of glittering crystal, of a multitude of different colors. "This place is just as beautiful as I'd heard." Melody looked back and smiled at Smeargle, who was currently walking just behind her, while Flynn was a short distance ahead.

As the trio entered a wide, empty room, Smeargle noticed a stray chunk of crystal that had broken off from the wall. It was laying on the floor on the opposite side of the room, next to something Smeargle thought was just an oddly shaped bit of blue and gray rock. He started to run over to take a closer look, hoping to maybe pick up a little memento from this visit.

"Whoa, hold on!" Melody called out, making him stop in his tracks. The 'oddly shaped bit of rock' turned out to be a sleeping Cranidos, which woke up because of the noise. It stood up, looking at the three intruders before growling aggressively and preparing to charge. Smeargle let out a startled yelp, backpedaling towards Team Sunrise. Both explorers rushed in-front of him, and the combination of a Flamethrower and a Thunderbolt quickly knocked out the Cranidos before it could attack.

Smeargle sighed in relief, and Melody turned to look at him. "I understand your excitement, but please stay close to us," she warned. "As pretty as this place is, it's still a mystery dungeon. There could be traps, or wild pokemon in hiding, and it'll be hard to keep you safe if you run off like that."

"S-Sorry. I'll be more careful."

Melody nodded at him, and the three of them continued onward. Smeargle mostly stayed toward the back of the group, letting the more experienced duo keep an eye out for trouble. The presence of rock-types did make things a bit tricky, since neither Flynn or Melody could really hit them that hard. But they'd had practice dealing with rock-types, and even resisted hits could still pack a punch, especially if the two of them worked together.

After a while, Smeargle spoke up again. "It must be so cool, getting to see places like this all the time."

"It is." Melody replied with a grin. "I always dreamed of being an explorer, ever since I was little." At the head of the group, a warm smile formed on Flynn's face. Melody continued, "You know, you could always join a guild too, if you really want to be an explorer."

Smeargle shook his head emphatically. "Oh no, no. I wouldn't want to do what you do, I wouldn't last a day. Like you said, as pretty as this place is, it's still a mystery dungeon. It's a bit intimidating, even with you two doing all the fighting. I only wanted to come here so I can see this place for myself, and maybe paint it later."

"Ah, I see."

"But I'll admit I'm a little jealous. You've probably seen so many other amazing places that I can only imagine or read about..."

Melody couldn't deny that. Exploring like this was tough, and sometimes terrifying, but she and Flynn had certainly seen a lot of unforgettable sights in their journeys. They'd been to lush forests, tall mountains, vast lakes... They'd explored the dark depths of caves, and the shifting sands of the desert.

Out of everything, the place that really stood out in her mind the most was Fogbound Lake. It was probably the single most beautiful location she'd ever seen, in her opinion. The light from the time gear shining up from underwater, combined with the geyser, and the Volbeat and Illumise flying around... She remembered how satisfying it had felt, finally reaching the lake at the end of that expedition, and just taking in that view. Even though they hadn't walked away with any 'treasure', everyone in the guild agreed the view alone was treasure enough.

Most of all, though, Fogbound Lake stood out strongly in Melody's mind... because that night, gazing out at the lake, with her partner sitting right beside her... that was when she realized she was starting to fall in love with Flynn.

As time had gone on, and with everything they'd been through together, her feelings had only gotten stronger. And especially lately, now that Flynn was back, it was sometimes difficult to keep just bottling it up.

Melody felt a pressure build in her chest, glancing up at the Cyndaquil leading the way. _(...I still want to tell him how I feel. But any time I try, I can never find the words... I always chicken out. And... I'm still not sure it's a good idea, anyway._ _After finally getting Flynn back, I probably shouldn't risk messing everything up.)_ She let out a faint sigh. _(But, at the same time... what if he does feel the same way? I... still want to know...)_ _  
_

It was an argument between her head and her heart that had been going on since Flynn's reappearance. Her head was telling her that it was too risky, and she should try to ignore her feelings and be happy with their friendship. But her heart was still telling her to go for it. And of the two, her heart was much louder.

She was so lost in thought that she almost bonked right into the wall as the group turned a corner in one of the winding corridors of the dungeon. She shook her head, trying to focus on the mission.

The three of them continued through the cave, Smeargle staying out of trouble and trying to commit as much of the scenery to memory as possible while he could. Things went fairly smoothly for the most part, and they made it through most of the dungeon without incident.

At one point, they were fighting a couple of wild pokemon. Melody knocked out a weakened Beldum with Feint Attack, while Flynn was busy dealing with a Graveler, who was firing out a multi-hit Rock Blast with fairly poor aim. Most of the rocks missed, but one of them did slam into Flynn, forcing him backward a couple steps. He was about to retaliate when a very distinctive _click_ sounded out from under his feet. He had just enough time to glance downward before he found himself warped away in a burst of light.

Smeargle gasped, and Melody felt her heart sink. She knew it was only a warp trap, but seeing Flynn vanish like that still brought back uncomfortable memories.

Trying to focus quickly, she dealt with the Graveler that Flynn had been fighting, while being careful not to step on the trap as well. She felt a bit of her old timidness resurface without her partner by her side, but she managed to quell it.

She knocked out the Graveler with a Normalized Thunderbolt, which it didn't bother trying to dodge, since it thought it would be immune to it. After checking on Smeargle, Melody set the treasure bag down, looking through its contents as she talked to him. "It's okay, this isn't a huge problem. This kind of situation is exactly why we brought one of these." She took out a rollcall orb and activated it.

There were a few more bursts of light, as Flynn was teleported back to the group, and Smeargle was warped an inch or two closer to where the orb was used, disorienting him a little.

Flynn was grimacing slightly, and steam was coming from the flame vents on his back, which drew some concern from Melody. "What happened?"

"The trap dropped me into water."

Melody winced. There wasn't even much water in this part of the dungeon, most of it was in Crystal Crossing. "How deep was it?"

"Not too deep. Didn't get much in my flame vents, thankfully." The steam had already stopped coming from his back, replaced by flickering fire, which then faded away once the Cyndaquil was satisfied that the water was gone.

"That's good," Melody responded with a sigh of relief. She still remembered their visit to Waterfall Cave, so long ago. After the flood they'd gotten caught up in at the end, Flynn had been so waterlogged that it had taken most of a day before his fire was back to full strength, and the experience had clearly not been pleasant for him at all. He'd been under the weather enough that he needed to lean on her for most of the trip back to Treasure Town. They'd made a point of not going back to that dungeon again.

Melody looked Flynn over a bit more. He wasn't really hurt that much, but between getting dropped into water, and having been smacked by a Rock Blast earlier, it wouldn't be a bad idea for him to rest just a little. She glanced back at the treasure bag, before adding, "You could have an oran berry, if you'd like." She wasn't surprised when Flynn shook his head. Flynn was probably the bravest pokemon she knew, but he could be a little stubborn, at times, and would often save their healing items for her unless he really needed it. _(Though, to be fair, I've done the same thing for him more than once,)_ she thought with a lopsided smile.

But if he wasn't going to eat an oran berry, Melody could at least make sure he didn't push himself too much. "I can take the lead for a while, at least. Let you rest for a bit and walk it off." Flynn nodded in response, giving her a grateful smile.

The rest of the dungeon went pretty smoothly, and they reached the crystal puzzle that would lead to Crystal Crossing. Team Sunrise didn't point out that there was more beyond that point. Even though there was no longer a time gear at Crystal Lake, they figured it would be best not to bother Azelf like this. Smeargle spent a few minutes just poking around, examining the giant crystals. He got particularly excited when he found out they could change colors. Eventually, he was ready to leave, and Flynn warped the three of them out with the team's badge.

* * *

"And three! Smiles go for miles!" The whole guild cheered in unison, as they did every morning.

"Ahem. Now that the morning cheers are done, there's something I'd like to announce."

Chatot's statement peaked all of the apprentices' curiosity. Melody and Flynn exchanged a quick look, wondering what this was about.

"I'm guessing many of you visit Spinda's Cafe fairly often, and may have already heard about this, so I'll be brief. Their 'Project P' has cleared the path to a place called Sky Peak, and the Shaymin Village at the mountain's base, which have been inaccessible for years after a large rock slide. Their Team Frontier has finished exploring the mountain, and Spinda's Cafe shared the location of the path yesterday, so many other pokemon have already started heading to Sky Peak."

Indeed, most of the guild members had heard about that. Melody really wanted to go see Sky Peak for herself, but they had guild work to do, so she didn't have time. Right?

Chatot continued, "Now, ordinarily, this wouldn't really be part of our guild work. The mountain has already been explored, so there's no new discovery to be had, or treasure to be found, and we don't have any specific job requests there yet. But the Guildmaster has decided to have a guild expedition to Sky Peak regardless. He pointed out that, with so many pokemon wanting to check out Sky Peak, there will likely be plenty who will need help. Although..." Chatot fired a slightly tired glance over at Wigglytuff. "...I suspect that the Guildmaster's _main_ reason for this outing is that he simply thinks it will be fun."

"Yep!" Wigglytuff answered bluntly, with a wide grin on his face. "Seeing a brand new place alongside friends, and meeting a whole village of new friends... Oh, I can't wait! It's been too long since our last expedition!" He danced around, spinning and hopping from one foot to the other.

Chatot rolled his eyes, but smiled slightly. "It hasn't even been a year, Guildmaster."

"But it's felt like it! Besides, after everything that's happened since then, don't we all deserve a fun break like this?"

"Very well." Chatot didn't really feel like arguing, he knew Wigglytuff had made up his mind already. And besides... Chatot was looking forward to seeing Sky Peak as well. Not that he'd admit that out loud.

Excited chatter broke out from the group. But before they could get too distracted, Chatot loudly cleared his throat. "We'll be leaving in an hour, so make sure your supplies are ready and meet up back here by then."

With a loud cheer, the guild members left for Treasure Town, preparing for the journey and eagerly talking about their destination.

"Oh my gosh, this is great!" Sunflora was clapping her leaves together in excitement.

Melody nodded in agreement. "Nobody's been able to even go there for years. Just think of what there might be to see there!"

"Hey hey, I'm looking forward to seeing the view from the summit," Corphish said. "Do you think it'll be as good of a view as we got the last time we had a guild expedition like this?"

Bidoof wasn't sure he'd go quite that far. "As pretty as Fogbound Lake? I don't know... I'm excited too, but I reckon that'll be mighty hard to top."

"Y-Yeah. Fogbound Lake was... in a league of its own," Melody added.

As they all got their supplies in order, they continued to speculate among themselves about every aspect of the impending trip. What Sky Peak would be like, what the Shaymin would be like, which of them would make it to the summit first, and so on. Eventually, everyone was ready, and they all headed back to the guild to meet up with Chatot.


	4. Chapter 4

Once everyone had finished their preparations, the guild members all set out for Sky Peak. Like their last expedition, they traveled in a few separate groups: Team Sunrise traveled as a duo, as did Wigglytuff and Chatot. As for the rest, Sunflora, Loudred and Diglett were one group, and Corphish, Chimecho and Bidoof were the other group. Croagunk and Dugtrio volunteered to stay at the guild and keep an eye on things.

By the time Team Sunrise had made it to the Shaymin Village, it was late afternoon. Flynn took a moment to just look around. There were dozens of pokemon around, most of them an unfamiliar species that he assumed were the Shaymin they'd heard about. The rest were explorers, presumably. He recognized a few of them as teams they'd met back in town. He also noticed Wigglytuff, who was balancing a perfect apple on his head as he excitedly talked to a very confused Shaymin.

"Ah, there you are!" Chatot's voice rang out, and the two turned to look at him as he flew closer. "You've made good time! The Guildmaster and I got here a short while ago, but otherwise you're the first group to arrive. Well done!" He flapped his wings once for emphasis.

"Thanks," Melody replied.

"Now, you're free to rest a bit and look around the village, while we wait for the others to arrive. Just don't wander off too far, alright?" Team Sunrise nodded in response, and Chatot flew off, leaving them to decide which part of the village to check first.

The Shaymin of the village were friendly. One was selling some nice-looking pink flowers, which were apparently called gracideas. Another told the group about a special item called a Sky Gift. Apparently, they could be found throughout Sky Peak, and they could contain all manner of useful things... but only if they're given to someone else. If they're opened by the same pokemon who found them, they will always be empty.

"How does that work?" Melody wondered out loud. "Although... I suppose creating items like that isn't really that much weirder than anything else that mystery dungeons do."

After a few hours, the rest of the guild had all reached Shaymin Village, but by then it was nearly nightfall, so it was decided that everyone would start climbing the mountain tomorrow. The village didn't have a proper inn, since they weren't used to having visitors after the path was inaccessible for so long, so the guild members simply camped out on the outskirts of the village. Thankfully, like with the prior expedition, the Guildmaster and Chatot had brought tents, and had gotten them set up during the day.

* * *

The next morning, everyone started bright and early climbing the mountain. Well... the apprentices did, anyway. The Guildmaster seemed content, at least for the moment, to continue looking around the village. He assured the rest of the guild that he and Chatot would catch up later.

Apparently, there were several small mystery dungeons strewn along the path up Sky Peak, and rest stations had been built in the stable areas in-between. There was also a Drifblim Gondola service, which had been quickly set up over the last few days by Team Frontier. It could fly explorers between the base of the mountain and the second, fourth, or sixth stations... but where was the fun in that? Few explorers would want to just skip halfway up the mountain, at least on their first visit. Though it would likely be a nice time-saver on the way back down, at least.

Team Sunrise got off to a pretty good start, breezing through the first two sections without much trouble. Most of the delays they did encounter were from simply taking a moment to appreciate the surroundings, or stopping to help some other explorer who needed some assistance.

They decided to rest for a little while after reaching the second station. Before long, the other members of the guild started to show up. Sunflora's group appeared first. Loudred called out, "HEY, Team Sunrise! Good to see we've caught up to you."

Melody smiled at the group, before responding, "Everything going well so far?"

"Yep!" Sunflora nodded. "And I take it you haven't had any trouble either, since you got here before us."

"Nope. So far Sky Peak has been fairly easy, not that I'm complaining."

Within another minute or two, the other group of apprentices arrived. Corphish looked around at the rest of the pokemon present, before noting with a bit of disappointment, "Hey hey, are we really the last ones here?"

"Looks that way," Chimecho said.

"To be fair, we didn't really get here that long ago," Melody responded.

"Still, we're gonna have to pick up the pace, hey hey. Don't want to be the last ones to reach the summit, right?"

Bidoof fidgeted uncomfortably. "Uh... S-Sorry if I'm holding us back or anything. Shucks, I know I'm still, uh... not quite as good at all this as most of you all..."

Chimecho shook her head. "Not at all, Bidoof. You're doing fine, don't worry."

"Yeah!" Sunflora gave Bidoof an encouraging smile. "You've improved a lot since you first joined, you know. You're a solid explorer in your own right, now, and you're catching up, one step at a time."

"G-Golly..." Bidoof blushed a little at the kind words. "Thanks, Sunflora. I'll keep working at it, yup yup!"

"That's the SPIRIT, Bidoof!" Loudred chuckled. "Sheesh, I've got to step it up, or I'm gonna get shown up by ALL the rookies." He gave Team Sunrise an approving look, though there was a bit of competitive fire in his eyes as well. "They've already at LEAST caught up to me, and it feels like they just joined YESTERDAY."

Melody looked around sheepishly. "I don't know that I'd really go _that_ far... We've definitely gotten a lot stronger, but we still have a long way to go."

"Don't be so modest," Chimecho said. "I don't think any of the rest of us have saved the world before, or fought a Legendary and lived to tell about it."

"EXACTLY! You know, I actually OVERHEARD the Guildmaster and Chatot the other day, while working sentry duty... It sounds like they're CONSIDERING having you two take the graduation exam before long."

"Really?" Melody gasped. "But we're still the newest members of the guild! Haven't most of you been here for way longer than us?"

"Yeah, hey hey!" Corphish said. "I mean, no offense to Team Sunrise, but the rest of us have been working hard too. Shouldn't we get a shot at graduating first?"

Shrugging, Loudred replied, "Hey, don't ask ME, I don't know for sure what the Guildmaster's planning. But honestly... it hurts my pride to ADMIT it, but those two would probably have the best shot of PASSING, out of all of us." He shuddered briefly. "I KNOW how rough the exam is, and I'm not eager to go through THAT again."

"Oh my gosh, I agree." Sunflora said. "Knowing what the exam is like... eek! I'd still like to get a bit stronger before I try to deal with that."

Corphish nodded reluctantly. "I suppose you're right. I guess we'll each get our chance when we're ready for it, hey hey."

All this talk of the exam, and how difficult it apparently was, was making Melody nervous. "What is the exam like, exactly?" She'd heard vague rumors of how tough it was to graduate from Wigglytuff's Guild even before she'd joined, but she never heard anything specific.

Loudred shuddered again. "Sorry, you two, we're NOT allowed to talk about it. You'll find out whenever it's time for someone to attempt it." That wasn't encouraging. But if they weren't allowed to say anything about it, Melody supposed she'd just have to wait.

After a few more minutes of chatting, everyone decided they'd rested long enough, continuing onward up the mountain.

* * *

"WHOA! Aw, dang it, this ain't good..."

Flynn and Melody were nearing the end of the fifth dungeon section when they heard Loudred's voice from up ahead. The duo exchanged a glance, nodding at each-other before running onward.

Loudred, Sunflora and Diglett were surrounded by several wild Carnivine, which were trying to snap at them with their huge jaws. Diglett dug into the ground, escaping the danger for the moment. Loudred and Sunflora were managing to mostly avoid getting hit, and landed a few solid hits in return, but they were still outnumbered and in a bad spot.

Until a Flamethrower blindsided one of the Carnivine, knocking it out and startling the others. The other four Carnivine were split between focusing on the new arrivals or the two they'd been attacking before.

...Correction, the _three_ they'd been attacking before. Diglett took advantage of the distraction, popping back up long enough to toss out a Rock Throw, before burrowing back down again. He couldn't do much against floating opponents, but he'd do what he could.

Now that the numbers were evened out, and with Flynn's type-advantage, the battle went fairly quickly. Once the Carnivine had all fainted or fled, the explorers all let out a sigh of relief. Sunflora gave Team Sunrise a grateful nod. "Thanks, you two. That would have been quite a bit tougher if you hadn't shown up."

Melody smiled in return. "You're welcome. I know you'd have done the same to help us." She cocked her head, curious about something. "How did you end up surrounded like that, though? That didn't seem like a monster house."

Sunflora huffed in annoyance, and she glared over at Loudred. "They were all sleeping, when we got here. We were trying to sneak through without waking them up, but oh my gosh, _someone_ on this team does not do stealth very well."

Loudred chuckled nervously, a guilty look on his face. "SORRY about that..."

Sunflora kept glaring at him for a few seconds, before her expression softened. "...It's fine. I probably shouldn't have tried to have us sneak through in the first place, considering you're here. We probably have something in our supplies that would have made for a way easier solution."

Diglett popped back up a few seconds later, looking up at his teammates. "S-Sorry I couldn't help much, you guys. I-"

"Ah, don't sweat it." Loudred waved dismissively. "You were at a BIG disadvantage there, and you're not as practiced in battle as us ANYWAY." Diglett still seemed to feel a little guilty, but he nodded.

"Ooh, I have an idea!" Sunflora chimed in suddenly. She started looking through the treasure bag that Loudred was carrying, quickly pulling out a small, sky-blue box. She set it down in-front of Melody. "We found a Sky Gift earlier, but we weren't sure who to give it to. You two should have it! It's the least we can do after you helped us like that."

Team Sunrise gladly accepted the gift. The box glowed slightly as Melody placed a paw on it, which she guessed was probably just part of how Sky Gifts worked. She opened it up, taking out a long band of cloth, seemingly a scarf or bandana or such. It was mostly red, with a bit of white on either end. Searching the cloth for an identifying label, she eventually found one. "It says here it's... a detect band?" She didn't remember having seen one of those before, and wasn't sure what it did, off-hand.

Sunflora had an answer, though. "They're supposed to boost your evasiveness, making it easier to dodge attacks. They're not very common, so that's a pretty nice find!"

That sounded useful. It seemed to be about the right size for either Melody or Flynn to wear, too. They exchanged a glance, silently asking which of them should have it. Flynn's answer wasn't surprising. He pointed a paw at the Skitty, and gave her a silent smile.

Melody giggled, not having expected anything different. "Alright. But the next time we find something rare like this, it's going to you, okay? You don't get to argue that I should have both." Flynn let out a faint chuckle of his own, but nodded. She decided to wear the detect band as a scarf, and he helped her get it tied properly, after taking off her usual defense scarf.

Sunflora gave them an approving smile. "It looks nice on you, Melody!" Her smile turned a bit mischievous as she turned to the Cyndaquil. "What do you think, Flynn? Doesn't she look pretty?" Flynn froze for a moment at the question, glancing away in embarrassment.

The Skitty felt her face heat up a little, and she tried to deflect the question for Flynn. "I-It'll be helpful when we're exploring, which is more important. I'm not really that concerned with how it looks."

There was a brief silence, which was eventually broken by Flynn, surprisingly. "It, um... does look nice on you." He was still averting his gaze a little, and there was a faint bit of pink visible on his cheeks.

Melody hadn't expected him to say anything, and after a moment for his words to sink in her blush deepened. "Oh, uh... t-thanks." She meant what she had said about the item's utility being more important, but... she had to admit it felt nice to hear Flynn say that.

"Oh my gosh, you two are _adorable_." Sunflora said gleefully, further flustering Melody and Flynn.

Loudred gave a hearty laugh, shaking his head at the grass-type's antics. "C'mon, Sunflora. If you REALLY want to thank them for their help, maybe spare them the teasing?"

"Aw. If I must." Sunflora said with an exaggerated pout. Though she quickly shook it off, and smiled warmly at Team Sunrise. "We probably should get going, I suppose. The fifth station should be pretty close, now." She started leading the way, closely followed by Loudred and Diglett. Melody took a deep breath, trying to shrug off her embarrassment, before walking after them alongside Flynn.

* * *

Sky Peak got tougher as Team Sunrise pushed onward. The air grew colder, and there was even a bit of snow on the ground, in some places. The wild pokemon also got stronger, and Fighting-types started to appear, which wasn't ideal. Melody's new detect band was already proving its usefulness, helping her avoid taking any hard hits. They still didn't go entirely unscathed, however, and were glad for the chance to rest as they reached the end of the eighth dungeon section.

As they entered the eighth station, their attention was immediately drawn to the crackling campfire in the center of the area, and the tall Ampharos that was sitting next to it. The electric-type noticed the duo as they approached, raising a paw in greeting. "Hello there. I'm guessing you two are explorers, like the others I've been seeing lately?"

"That's right. We're Team Sunrise, from Wigglytuff's Guild. I'm Skitty, and my partner here is Cyndaquil. And you are?"

"I am Ampharos. I live up here, helping out pokemon that get injured while climbing the mountain." He chuckled a little. "As you can imagine, the Shaymin from the village were pretty much the only ones to visit for a long time, until just the other day. It's been nice seeing some new faces, after so long. Though, ironically, despite all the new explorers coming through..." He gestured towards a Shaymin who was laying on a makeshift bed nearby. "...the only pokemon I'm taking care of at the moment is a Shaymin. Though she's mostly recovered now."

Melody looked the Shaymin over with a bit of concern. "What happened to her?"

"I'm fine," the Shaymin answered, getting to her feet. "I just... got a little over-confident, I guess. With all these explorers around, excitedly checking out Sky Peak, I was feeling nostalgic. It's been a long time since I saw the summit, so yesterday I decided to climb the mountain again myself."

"...Alone?"

Shaymin sheepishly smiled at the duo, rubbing the back of her head with a paw. "...Like I said, maybe not my best decision. I ran into trouble after the sixth station, and I only made it this far because a group of explorers brought me here so Ampharos could help me." She let out a quiet sneeze, shivering as she inched a bit closer to the fire. "It doesn't help that it gets so darn chilly up here. I knew I should have just flown straight to the top, but silly me, I had to take the _scenic route_."

Both members of Team Sunrise tilted their heads in confusion. Melody was the one to ask the obvious question. "You can fly?"

"All Shaymin can. Well... in our sky form, anyway. But I didn't bring a gracidea flower with me, so I can't change form now. So I'm just gonna have to keep climbing the rest of the way on foot, I guess. Or give up and climb back down." A thought occurred to her, and she gave Flynn and Melody a hopeful look. "Actually, I don't suppose I could tag along with you two, could I? I promise I can hold my own, and there's not too much left until the summit."

The two explorers silently looked at each-other for a moment. Flynn shrugged, and Melody turned back towards Shaymin. "We'd be fine with that. You're sure you've recovered enough, though?"

Nodding, Shaymin replied, "I've been here since yesterday evening, so I've had plenty of time to rest."

Melody set the team's treasure bag down, taking a seat a short distance from the fire. "Well, my partner and I would still like to take a short break here, but after that, I guess we can continue on together." Shaymain smiled gratefully, thanking the duo as she sat down as well.

After a short silence, other than the crackling of the fire, Shaymin decided to pass the time by asking about Team Sunrise's adventures. She'd never really been outside of the Shaymin Village and the surrounding area, so she enjoyed getting to hear stories about other places. And Team Sunrise certainly had no shortage of stories they could share, after all their adventures at this point.

* * *

Finally, after a long climb, they'd made it to the summit. Melody stared in amazement for a moment at the sight in front of her. A vast field of gracideas spread out across most of the summit, and several small, pink petals were drifting in the breeze.

Melody took a deep breath of the clean, refreshing air, while Flynn stood beside her, gently smiling as he took in the scenery. It had taken them several hours to climb the whole mountain, but they'd both say it was worth it. It always felt satisfying, reaching a new place like this, and the surroundings and company made it even better.

Behind them, Shaymin giggled at their reaction. "Yeah, this summit is something else, huh? Isn't this just the most beautiful place you've ever seen?"

"It's... certainly up there," Melody responded with a hint of awe in her voice. She still didn't think this quite topped Fogbound Lake, but that was a very high bar. And she admittedly might be a little biased, considering Fogbound Lake's significance to her.

Shaymin seemed almost surprised to have gotten an answer other than simply 'yes', but shrugged it off. Walking up to the field of gracideas, she reached out a paw to touch one of the flowers. A bright glow enveloped her for a brief moment, and when it faded, she had transformed.

At first, Melody almost thought Shaymin had evolved, but that wouldn't make sense. Considering what Shaymin said earlier... "That's your sky form, then?"

"Yep!" Shaymin happily replied. She leapt into the air, taking off and flying far off the ground. After flying a couple of quick loops in the air, she came in for a landing, slowing to a stop in front of a surprised Melody and Flynn.

"Ah, that felt good! I really prefer this form, honestly." Once Shaymin noticed the duo's expressions, she laughed, flashing them a light-hearted smirk. "What? Didn't believe me when I said us Shaymin can fly?"

Melody shook her head to clear it. "It's not really that I didn't _believe_ you. It was just surprising to suddenly see it, is all."

Shaymin nodded. "Anyway, you've got to check out the view from up here. They call this place 'Sky Peak' for a good reason." Shaymin eagerly took off again, stopping near the edge of the summit and gesturing for the explorers to follow her.

They carefully followed, getting close enough to the edge to look over the side. They were greeted by a view of a thick layer of clouds, with hardly any gaps to reveal the ground, so far below. A few other mountain peaks were visible in the distance, just barely poking through the clouds as well.

Melody glanced to her side, seeing Flynn was just as immersed in the view as she was. This was all really reminding her of that amazing night at Fogbound Lake. She closed her eyes, feeling the memories come flooding back. A familiar pressure started to build in her chest, and she could feel her heart speed up.

In that moment... she wanted _so badly_ to finally say the words she'd been bottling up for so long. This would be a great place to finally tell Flynn how she felt.

_(But... we're not alone, here. Shaymin is still here, and the rest of the guild could easily start showing up any minute n-)_

"Hey hey! Looks like we finally made it to the summit!" Right on cue, they could hear Corphish's voice coming from behind them. It was a little faint, considering the distance, but he was getting closer.

Flynn and Melody got up, backing away from the ledge and turning to look at the approaching pokemon. As expected, Bidoof and Chimecho were still with Corphish. Melody was blushing slightly as she called out, "H-Hey, you guys. Glad to see you made it..."

Bidoof raised a paw in greeting. "Howdy, Team Sunrise! Golly, this place is even prettier than I expected, yup yup."

"Yeah, it really is..." Melody responded, still a little distracted.

Meanwhile, Chimecho had noticed Shaymin, who was standing off to the side a bit. "Oh? Who are you?"

"I'm Shaymin, from the village." The new arrivals were a little confused at that, considering she didn't look like the other Shaymin, but she continued. "I ran into a bit of trouble earlier, and these two helped escort me the rest of the way up the mountain." She gestured towards Flynn and Melody, giving the duo a grateful smile.

The six of them continued to chat for a while about how the journey up the mountain had gone. Before too long, the rest of the guild arrived as well, including the Guildmaster and Chatot. They all spent a while there on the summit, resting their tired legs, having a bite to eat, and talking among themselves.

It was still nice, getting to relax and enjoy the view with everyone from the guild. But, again... it just reminded Melody even more of their visit to Fogbound Lake. And the wonderful memories, combined with the beautiful surroundings... she had a strong urge to finally bare her heart to Flynn.

But with the entire guild around... she just couldn't. She'd have to wait for another opportunity, she supposed. And... by then, she'd probably be doubting herself again. She'd tell herself to play it safe, and not risk ruining their friendship and their team.

_(...No. I'm... I'm tired of second-guessing myself about this. I'm still scared what might happen, if Flynn doesn't feel the same way. But... I need to know. I need the closure. I regretted not telling him how I felt before he disappeared. And if I keep putting this off... someday it'll be too late. I... I can't deal with that again. I won't let that happen!)_

Melody nodded to herself in determination. She'd made up her mind.

_(...I'm going to tell him.)_

* * *

Eventually, everyone started to make their way back to the village. Shaymin thanked Team Sunrise again for their help, flying down on her own after telling them she'd send them a Sky Gift when she had the chance. The guild members all climbed back down to the Sixth Station, riding the Drifblim Gondola the rest of the way.

Melody spent the whole trip back down the mountain trying to plan out how she was going to do this. She considered waiting until they got back to town, and going down to the beach around sunset. It would be a perfect place to confess how she felt, between the beautiful view and how significant that spot was to both of them... But she was afraid that if she tried to wait that long, she'd lose her resolve by then. Besides, there was no guarantee that they'd be the only ones there.

No, if she was going to do this, it was best to go for it sooner rather than later. Unfortunately, trying to plan out what to actually say hadn't gone very well. She had an idea of where to start, at least, but from there... she'd probably have to play it by ear.

By the time everyone got back down to Shaymin Village again, it was already well into the afternoon. After a bit of discussion, it was agreed that the group would stay at the village again that night, and set out for Treasure Town again in the morning. The guild members dispersed, as they all decided how to pass the time.

At Melody's request, Team Sunrise took a walk around the outskirts of the village. She was hoping to find a nice, private spot for them to talk, and eventually, they stumbled across a secluded little pond, with a small patch of gracideas nearby. Thankfully, no-one else was around. While there were many explorers visiting the village now, they were mostly focused on Sky Peak, rather than looking around the village and its surroundings.

Melody sat down near the edge of the pond, and Flynn followed, sitting a few steps away. Melody took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves... with little success. _(Come on,)_ she thought. _(I've faced my fears so many times at this point. I've explored dozens of mystery dungeons, taken down dangerous outlaws, and even battled Dialga himself! This... should be easy by comparison... right?)_

Before she could bring herself to say anything, Flynn actually spoke up instead, concern on his face. "What's wrong? You've been... oddly quiet, ever since we reached the summit."

Flynn's words snapped Melody out of her thoughts. "N-Nothing's wrong, exactly. I... I've just been... wanting to talk with you about something."

Another couple seconds passed, Flynn patiently waiting as the Skitty tried to gather her thoughts. "...We've come a long way, haven't we? Since we met, I mean." Flynn wasn't sure what he expected her to say, but it wasn't that. Still, he nodded. "It feels like so long ago, now... Back then, I... couldn't even manage the courage to enter the guild, or stand up to Koffing and Zubat when they stole my Relic Fragment.

"But... then I met you. You helped me get my treasure back, and you formed an exploration team with me, helping me chase my dreams. I've... gotten a lot stronger and braver, since then. And it's mostly thanks to you."

"I didn't really do much," Flynn replied, smiling warmly at her. "You've got a lot of courage deep down. I just... helped you draw that courage out."

"That's what I mean, though!" Melody said earnestly. "You're... always so brave. It feels like you're never scared of anything... and you make me feel braver just by being with me. You pushed me to never give up, no matter how bad things get. When we're together, I... I feel like I can stand up to anything. You bring out the best of me..." She knew she was blushing terribly, but she resisted the urge to look away. Her nerves were beginning to get the best of her, though.

Flynn blushed as well, not sure what to say. After a few moments, he finally replied, "You've... done a lot for me too, you know. You've been... by my side, ever since I woke up like this, with no memories and nowhere to go. I've relied on you a lot. Especially early on, but even now. You're... my trusted partner... and my most cherished friend." There was more that he wanted to say, and felt like he _should_ say, but he didn't have the words. He wasn't good at this kind of thing, it was hard enough just to say what he had.

"F-Flynn..." Melody looked her partner in the eye, feeling a surge of confidence after his words. She could do this. "I feel the same way. You're a great friend, a-and the best teammate that I could ever ask for. But... you're more than that to me. A lot more." Melody could feel her heart beating out of her chest. "W-What I'm trying to say is, I... I love you." The last three words came out as barely more than a whisper, but Flynn was close enough to hear them just fine.

For a while, Flynn just sat there, with a bright blush and a dumbstruck expression on his face. He opened his mouth to say something, but couldn't decide what to say. He'd gotten more comfortable with how he felt about Melody, since that trip to Midnight Forest, but he still hadn't been quite ready to try and do anything about it yet.

Melody averted her gaze, staring into the pond. She had a brief feeling of relief at finally getting those words off her chest, but it was quickly replaced by a different tension as she waited for Flynn to respond. She hung her head, starting to fear she may have made a mistake after all.

Eventually, the silence was too much. Melody meekly spoke again, still unable to bring herself to glance at her partner. "I-I understand if... if you don't feel the same way. Especially since... you used to be human. Please, j-just... forget that I said anything..."

While she was talking, Flynn finally snapped out of it, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. Rather than say anything, he simply walked over, sitting down right next to Melody and just nuzzling her cheek. She locked up briefly, not having expected that. After a moment, she relaxed a bit, returning the nuzzle as a bit of hope returned to her.

Several more moments passed before Melody broke the silence again. "So, um... Does this mean that you...?"

"...Yes."

Melody leaned against Flynn's side, letting out a breath that it felt like she'd been holding since she made up her mind on the summit. After all of her worrying and second-guessing over how this would go, hearing that one simple word... felt almost blissful.

Flynn continued after a moment. "I'll admit, it still feels... a little weird, thinking about... being in love with a pokemon. But... I can't remember anything from when I was a human. Honestly, after all this time... it almost doesn't feel real anymore."

He stood up, stepping closer to the pond and looking at his reflection. "I'm... a Cyndaquil, now. And... I have no regrets about that, anymore. I'm happy with this life... and you are... an irreplaceable part of it." He turned back towards his partner, giving her a gentle smile as he walked back over and sat by her side again.

"Oh, Flynn..." Melody could feel moisture starting to well up in her eyes as she nuzzled Flynn, her tail wagging uncontrollably. Flynn rested a paw on her back, drawing a contented purr from the Skitty. They stayed in that embrace for a long while, both of them happy to just silently enjoy the moment.

Eventually, Melody quietly spoke again. "Hey, Flynn?"

"Hm?"

"We should probably head back to the village soon, or everyone's going to wonder where we are. But... when we get back to Treasure Town, can we maybe... head down to the beach, and just... watch the sunset together?"

"...I'd like that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I mentioned in the note after the first chapter, this is the last chapter that's currently finished. I'm working on chapter five, but just keep in mind that I'm not really experienced at writing like this, so I'm kinda slow as a result.
> 
> On this chapter, that last scene in particular took a lot of time before I was reasonably satisfied with it. I actually adjusted it a tiny bit about a week after I initially posted it on FFN because a few parts were still bugging me. Hopefully that scene, and this chapter in general, turned out good enough. Again, feedback is really appreciated.


	5. Chapter 5

It was mostly silent other than the crashing of the waves as Flynn looked out at the ocean view near Craggy Coast. _(Is it odd for a fire-type to appreciate a view like this?)_ he wondered idly, before shrugging it off. He took a bite out of the apple he was holding, just letting himself relax and enjoy the moment.

Melody was currently snuggled up to his side, eating an apple of her own. The two of them had come out to Craggy Coast for a mission, retrieving an item that someone had lost in the area, but they could afford to rest for a little while first after having made good time coming all the way out here.

Their routine hadn't actually changed that much after their heart-to-heart near the Shaymin Village about a week ago. They still mostly just stuck to their guild work, since that took up most of their time. But on the other hand, that still meant spending their time together, doing work they both enjoyed, and getting to come out to places like this on a daily basis. And they could often spare a little while for moments like this, here and there.

And of course, they usually had at least a little extra time left after getting back to Treasure Town, so they could still stop by the cafe, or the beach, or other spots around town as well, if they wanted.

Though honestly, if you asked Flynn, little moments like this seemed more romantic and fitting for them than a more normal 'date' somewhere like Spinda's Cafe would probably be, anyway. Just the two of them, enjoying each-other's company and the scenery of the areas they got to explore.

Eventually, they both finished their apples, but neither of them was in a rush to immediately get back up just yet. As the duo kept looking out at the ocean, Melody started quietly humming to herself, prompting a silent smile from Flynn. It was something she often did while they were busy exploring, though for a while after they'd first formed their team she'd get embarrassed if she realized she was being loud enough for Flynn to hear her.

Usually Flynn wouldn't recognize whatever tune she was humming, but this time he did. Just a day or two after they got back from Sky Peak, they'd received a Sky Gift from the Shaymin they'd helped climb to the summit. Upon opening it, they'd found a small music box, with an image of a gracidea on the side. It wasn't technically as useful as the detect band they'd gotten from the previous Sky Gift, but the tune it played was pretty and soothing, and Melody had taken a liking to it immediately, keeping it in the team's room at the guild.

_(Not that I have any complaints, either. It is a nice tune. And it sounds even better coming from her.)_

They did still have a mission to get to, though. So as the tune ended and Melody's humming faded to silence, Flynn quietly spoke up. "Ready to go?"

Melody nodded in response, starting to get back up. Before long, the duo was ready, standing just outside the entrance to the mystery dungeon. They shared a glance, Flynn giving his partner a silent smile, which she returned. Nodding at each-other, they turned back towards the entrance, stepping forward into the mystery dungeon.

* * *

One morning, a couple weeks after the expedition to Sky Peak, Chatot announced during the morning briefing that Team Sunrise would indeed be taking the guild's graduation exam. They were told that they had to make their way to the depths of Mystifying Forest, and defeat a heinous villain known as... "The Grandmaster of All Things Bad".

As silly as that title sounded, Melody was still really nervous. The other members of the guild had made it clear that the exam was no joke. The duo made sure to have as many supplies as they could manage before they headed out.

The dungeon itself, thankfully, was fairly tame. A few wild pokemon were strong enough to pose a threat, but most of them were pretty easy to defeat. Which had only made Melody _more_ nervous. If the dungeon was this easy... then just what were they in for when they reached the end?

"What do you think this 'Grandmaster' is going to be like?" Melody finally asked, as they were exploring the thirteenth floor. She had a feeling they were getting close.

"...No idea." Flynn answered with a shrug.

"This whole thing doesn't really make sense, the more I think about it. I mean, for one thing, no-one outside of the guild seemed to have even heard of this 'Grandmaster'. And for another, why would the guild use someone like this as part of their graduation exam? Surely they'd have arrested him by now, if he was that bad... especially if they know he's hiding out here."

Flynn nodded in agreement. "There's... something else odd, too."

"Hm?"

"Everyone at the guild... seemed to act like they knew more than they could let on..."

"Yeah, that's true. They said that the details of the exam are supposed to be a secret..." Melody paused for a moment, before realizing what Flynn was getting at. "Wait, wasn't Loudred the only one of them who's actually taken the exam before, from what they said? So why do the others know more about all this than we do...?"

They didn't have to ponder all of that for too much longer, as they soon found themselves in a clearing, having reached the end of the mystery dungeon. The duo walked cautiously forward, keeping an eye out for danger. They couldn't spot any sign of other pokemon around, but this Grandmaster had to be around here somewhere.

Unfortunately, they were a bit too focused on looking around for other pokemon, and failed to notice a hidden pitfall until Flynn had stepped right into it.

Melody gasped, stopping at the edge of the hole and looking down to make sure her partner was alright. He assured her that he was fine, if a little sore. The pit thankfully hadn't been _that_ deep. Melody was about to look through their supplies for something that could help when someone pushed her from behind, sending her tumbling into the hole as well.

The landing was softer than she'd expected, and she realized with slight embarrassment that she'd landed on Flynn's back. She wondered if he'd deliberately tried to catch her. She stepped down to the ground, but before she could say anything their attention was drawn to laughter coming from up above.

"Mwahaha... You've fallen right into my trap! I, the Grandmaster of All Things Bad, will make you regret ever setting foot here!" It was clear whoever was talking was _trying_ to make his voice sound sinister, but he wasn't very good at it.

"You don't scare us!" Melody responded, with only the slightest tremor in her voice betraying her. "Now, show yourself, 'Grandmaster'!"

"He's not the only one you have to worry about," said another voice, but this one came from within the chamber they'd fallen to. The duo turned to face the sound, but couldn't see who it was. The light coming from the pitfall wasn't lighting up the whole area, and even when Flynn lit the fire on his back, it only helped so much. They couldn't even tell how big the room really was, though it was clearly quite large.

The new voice continued, "The Grandmaster has many minions, as well." This pokemon was also clearly trying to sound sinister, and unlike the 'Grandmaster', was having a bit more success at it.

"That's right!"

"You don't stand a CHANCE!"

More voices. How many pokemon were down here? Melody briefly glanced back and forth between the hole in the ceiling, and the darkness shrouding the rest of the room. She was shivering slightly as she called out again, "I-I said show yourselves! W-We don't care how many of you there are, we'll beat you anyway!"

Flynn silently looked through their bag as Melody talked, eating an oran berry to heal his slight injuries from the fall, and grabbing a petrify orb, ready to use it at a moment's notice.

"Mwahaha..." The Grandmaster laughed again. "Very well. I guess you can't very well fight what you can't see. Lights!"

A bright flash filled the chamber as a luminous orb was activated. Both explorers had to close their eyes briefly to block out the intense light. When they opened them again...

"W-What!?" Melody looked around in shock. Why were the rest of the guild apprentices here?

A thud came from behind, startling Team Sunrise. They whirled to look, finding the Guildmaster himself staring at them with a goofy grin.

"Mwahaha... That's right. The Grandmaster of All Things Bad is none other than... me!" Wigglytuff declared. Chatot flew down as well, and he and the Guildmaster made their way towards the rest of the guild members, taking their place at the far end of the room.

Suddenly, this situation was starting to make a terrifying amount of sense. Hesitantly, Melody started to voice the obvious conclusion. "W-Wait a second... So the graduation exam is..."

Chatot nodded. "Yes. In order to graduate, you must defeat the rest of us in battle."

"Y-You can't be serious! All of you? At once!?" All of Melody's confidence had quickly evaporated.

Loudred gave a booming laugh. "NOW you know why we said it's so TOUGH!"

"To be clear about the rules," Chatot added, "the Guildmaster and I will not be fighting until you defeat the other apprentices. Additionally, Bidoof will be on the sidelines for the whole exam. He made it clear that he wasn't comfortable trying to fight you two, even for something like this. So rather than making him hold back so much that he's not even a threat, he will instead be checking on everyone who gets defeated, bringing them healing items and making sure they're not hurt too badly. There shouldn't really be too much risk of that, in this case, but it doesn't hurt to play it safe.

"And on the note of healing items, that brings me to the other main rule for the exam: other than healing guild members after they've been knocked out of the fight, we are not allowed to use any items at all, healing or otherwise. For you two, on the other hand, orbs are prohibited, but you are otherwise allowed any items you wish, provided you can find time to use them."

"S-Still, though..." Melody muttered. Besides the fact that she didn't really want to have to attack her fellow guildmates, she wasn't confident she could handle this at all. There were too many of them, and most of them were at least as strong as her if not stronger, she thought. And that's not even considering the Guildmaster...

She felt a paw on her back, turning to see Flynn giving her a reassuring smile. If he had any doubts about their ability to pull through, he wasn't showing it.

Melody took a deep breath, calming her nerves a bit. _(I don't have to do this alone. We're a team. And we've succeeded in tougher situations than this before. We can do this.)_ She returned Flynn's smile, nodding as confidently as she could manage.

Slowly, the other guild members started to get into position, surrounding Team Sunrise and taking a fighting stance. Wigglytuff, Chatot, and Bidoof were the exceptions, staying on the far edge of the room and just watching.

"Hey hey," Corphish called out. "Don't go easy on us just 'cause we're your guildmates. I'm giving this all I've got, and if you want to graduate, you're gonna have to do the same."

"That's right," Dugtrio added. "If you are not ready, we will overwhelm you like the vicious waves of the sea. You must be prepared to go all-out."

Loudred flexed an arm, giving them a cocky smile. "We're all TOUGH enough, you don't have to WORRY about holding back just so you don't HURT us too much."

Croagunk just smirked in his usual way, laughing quietly. "Meh-heh-heh... Best of luck, you two. You might need it."

"You can do it, Team Sunrise!" Bidoof cheered, in contrast to the other guild members' warnings. "I believe in you, yup yup!" Both Flynn and Melody smiled slightly at that, before focusing again on the matter at hand.

The two of them stood, back-to-back, looking at the rest of the apprentices. They were surrounded and outnumbered. Even with Chatot and Wigglytuff sitting things out for now, and Bidoof not fighting at all, it was still two against seven. They needed to narrow that down _fast_ , or they wouldn't stand a chance. And with Chimecho able to use Heal Bell, Melody wouldn't be able to rely on just Singing some of them to sleep.

The other members of the guild waited, seemingly letting Team Sunrise have the first move. After a bit of hesitation, Melody launched a Thunderbolt at Dugtrio, who just cocked his heads, staring at the electricity in confusion. Just as it was about to connect, his eyes widened as he remembered Melody's ability, but by then it was too late to even try to dodge. Dugtrio was immediately knocked out, not having the resilience to endure a direct hit like that.

Meanwhile, Flynn attacked Sunflora with Flamethrower. She tried to get out of the way, but wasn't fast enough to avoid it entirely, still taking a lot of damage and getting burned.

That was one opponent down, and one more weakened, but that was the only head-start Team Sunrise was going to get. Now Loudred, Corphish, and Croagunk were advancing on them, while Diglett burrowed under the ground. Sunflora and Chimecho were keeping their distance, but they could both attack from that range, so that was even worse.

Flynn reached into their treasure bag, searching through it as quickly as he could. He pulled out a quick seed, passing it to his partner before curling up, enveloping himself in a Flame Wheel and rolling towards Sunflora at high speed. The grass-type let out a panicked "Oh my gosh!", firing a barrage of Bullet Seeds at him in an attempt to deter him, but he kept going. The Flame Wheel connected, and Sunflora collapsed, not having the strength to keep fighting.

Melody wanted to cover Flynn, but for now, she'd have to trust he could handle things on his own. She had enough to deal with at the moment, as Croagunk and Corphish were closing in on her, with Chimecho ready to assist them as well.

Thankfully, the quick seed's effects kicked in, and between the speed boost it granted and the detect band Melody was wearing, she was nearly untouchable. She weaved around Crabhammers, Poison Jabs, and the occasional Psywave, countering when she could.

Flynn didn't have much time to rest after taking down Sunflora, as Loudred had immediately started targeting him. He barely managed to avoid a Pound, and was about to retaliate when Diglett popped up next to him, slamming him with a Mud Bomb and swiftly burrowing back down again. Flynn was caught off-guard, and Loudred was able to follow up with a Stomp to Flynn's back.

Grunting in pain, Flynn felt his Blaze ability activate. He ignited his back, scorching Loudred's foot and forcing him to back off. Flynn stayed alert, listening for any hint of Diglett popping up again. As soon as he heard it, he launched a wild spray of flames in all directions from his back. The Lava Plume knocked out Diglett before he could do anything more, and did a lot of damage to Loudred as well. Flynn retreated afterward, hoping to regroup with Melody.

Not a moment too soon, as Melody was in a bit of trouble of her own. She had managed to defeat Corphish and weaken Croagunk without taking much damage herself, but the quick seed had worn off now. Even with her detect band still helping, Melody wasn't able to keep dodging attacks from both Croagunk and Chimecho forever. A Psywave snuck through, throwing her off long enough for Croagunk to land a Brick Break.

Melody staggered back, but managed to stay on her feet. Before either opponent could attack her again, a very displeased Cyndaquil bowled Croagunk over with a Flame Wheel, knocking him down for the count. Melody smiled gratefully, catching her breath for a moment after all the frantic dodging she'd been doing before.

Chimecho wavered a bit in the air as she realized it was down to just her and Loudred. She floated over to him, using Heal Bell to heal his burns and preparing to assist as best she could.

But Loudred had already been weakened too much from Flynn's earlier attack, and fainted from a Flamethrower before he could get in range to fight back. That left Chimecho to attempt to fight alone, and considering she was more of a supporter than a fighter, that didn't go very well.

After Chimecho was defeated, Flynn and Melody sighed in relief as they looked around. That was all of the apprentices down, though some of them had gotten healed already and were now watching from the sidelines. Flynn and Melody let themselves collapse to the floor, really wanting to rest for a bit after all that.

"Well done, Team Sunrise. But your exam isn't over just yet." Chatot's voice brought the duo back to reality, and they scrambled back to their feet. "You still have to prove yourselves against me and the Guildmaster."

"Yep! Prepare to face the true terror that is the Grandmaster of All Things Bad!" Wigglytuff shouted. On the far end of the room, Chatot took to the air, and Wigglytuff started approaching, one ominous step at a time, with a contrastingly silly smile on his face.

Flynn hurriedly rummaged through their treasure bag, grabbing two oran berries and a sleep seed. He passed one berry to his partner before eating the other himself. Chatot mercifully seemed to give the duo a brief moment to use their items before 'phase two' of the exam started, but even still, Flynn had barely finished his berry before he had to dive out of the way of Chatot swooping down at him.

At least he could feel the healing effects of the berry start to gradually spread through him. Even if it meant Blaze wouldn't be boosting him anymore, it was worth the trade-off at the moment.

Before Chatot could come back for another pass, Flynn took the sleep seed and hurled it towards Wigglytuff. It hit its mark, shattering into dust and quickly putting Wigglytuff to sleep. It likely wouldn't last as long as it would have if Wigglytuff had actually eaten the sleep seed, but it would hopefully give them some time to focus on just Chatot.

But Chatot wasn't going to make that easy on them. He quickly barraged Flynn with a Fury Attack, then retreated back to the air before either member of Team Sunrise could respond. He circled close overhead, swift enough that they struggled to catch him with any of their ranged attacks. He seemed to be just waiting for them to leave themselves open again. But they couldn't just take their time with him, or Wigglytuff would wake back up, and they'd have to fight both of them at once. They needed to think of something.

Melody whispered something to Flynn, getting a nod in response, before she started to Sing. Flynn covered his ears to avoid falling asleep himself, and started preparing his fire.

Chatot's eyes widened as he realized what she was doing, and he tried to fly out of range, but he was too late. He quickly started getting drowsy, and barely managed to come down with a relatively smooth landing before he fell asleep. His nap didn't last long, however, as he was hit by a Flamethrower. Melody readied a Thunderbolt as well, in-case Chatot was still going to keep fighting, but he stayed down. After a moment, he tiredly mumbled, "Well... played, you two," though he was too quiet for them to hear him.

Flynn and Melody both let out a sigh of relief. With Chatot down, the only one left was...

"Yoooooom..."

Flynn and Melody spun to face Wigglytuff, who was suddenly far too close for comfort. When had he gotten back up?! They had been distracted too heavily by Chatot, and hadn't paid enough attention to where the Guildmaster was. And now...

"...TAAAAAH!

The Hyper Voice sent both of them flying across the chamber, slamming hard into the wall. Flynn was knocked out from the collision, and Melody wasn't in great shape either. She shakily got to her feet, throwing the treasure bag from her back and retrieving what she needed from it.

She placed a reviver seed in Flynn's mouth, but didn't have time to eat another oran berry herself. Wigglytuff was approaching faster this time, seemingly not playing around anymore now that he was the last opponent left.

Melody fired a Thunderbolt his way, hoping to at least slow him down long enough for Flynn to get back up. But he simply charged right through it, before leaping into the air and preparing to Body Slam the Skitty. She managed to get out of the way in time, and Wigglytuff slammed into the ground, bouncing back up and landing on his feet.

Flynn had recovered by then, coughing out the now-useless plain seed and gathering his bearings again. He spat out a Smokescreen, hoping to stall Wigglytuff for just a moment. After that, both he and Melody desperately tried to keep their distance from the Guildmaster.

Wigglytuff was much stronger and more durable than them, that much was obvious. Their only edge was likely in speed, and hopefully range. Ideally, they might be able to chip him down with ranged moves, especially since it was two against one, and he couldn't chase both of them at once if they split up.

That was the plan, at least. It was the best thing either of them could think of on the spot. And it worked decently for a little while, with Wigglytuff even beginning to visibly tire a little after the third or fourth hit. Since Wigglytuff decided to focus on Melody, Flynn even had a chance to make his way back over to their discarded treasure bag, grabbing a vile seed for later.

But then Melody started to run out of steam. She'd already been worn down by the rest of the guild, and had barely had any time to rest or use any healing items. She simply couldn't keep running at full speed forever after all that. So Wigglytuff was able to finally catch up, and a flurry of Doubleslaps was more than Melody could withstand. She collapsed, leaving Flynn to face down the Guildmaster alone.

For just a moment, he doubted his chances, afraid that he wouldn't be able to finish this. But his determination quickly flared back up, which in turn made the fire on his back do the same. He knew how much this meant to Melody, and he refused to surrender yet.

Flynn tossed the vile seed, hitting Wigglytuff and rapidly weakening his defenses. Taking a deep breath, Flynn started to let his inner fire build up. As the Guildmaster continued to get closer, the pressure in the Cyndaquil's flame vents got more and more intense.

Just as Wigglytuff reached him, Flynn released it all in one, massive Overheat.

As the attack ended, Flynn's feet almost gave out from under him. He might have put a little too much into that one move. Still, even as tough as the Guildmaster was, that had to have been enough, right?

Wigglytuff had been pushed back slightly by the force of the attack, falling over onto his back. He dramatically held one shaky paw up, weakly crying out, "No! They got me... I, the Grandmaster of All Things Bad, have finally... been... defeated." He let his paw fall, going silent.

For several seconds, Flynn just stood there, silently blinking as he tried to figure out what to think. But soon, he heard loud cheering, as the other guild members rushed up to him. He hadn't been paying close attention to them, in the heat of the battle, but evidently Bidoof had managed to get them all back up on their feet while the rest of the fighting had gone on.

"That was AMAZING! I can't BELIEVE you guys DID IT!"

"Oh my gosh, congrats! I'm so happy for you both!"

"I knew you could do it! By golly, that was even more impressive than I could've imagined."

Flynn numbly took in the praise briefly, before realizing that Melody was still down. He pushed past the other guild members, walking back over to their treasure bag as fast as his tired legs would take him.

Once he'd retrieved a reviver seed, and given it to his partner, he waited a few seconds for it to take effect. Soon enough, she was getting back up, looking around for where Wigglytuff was. When she noticed that he was already down, and the other apprentices were crowding around her and Flynn, she paused, dazedly asking, "W... Wait. Is he...? Did we win?" Flynn simply responded with a nod and a tired, but warm smile.

The rest of the guild resumed congratulating them, now that Melody was conscious again to hear it. It seemed to take a few moments for it to really sink in, but gradually, a wide smile settled on the Skitty's face. They'd really done it. They'd actually passed.

Chatot loudly cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention. He was standing over by Wigglytuff, who was still lying on the ground like he'd been since the fight ended. Chatot nodded at Team Sunrise. "I must congratulate you as well. You both fought excellently." He glanced over at Wigglytuff, rolling his eyes slightly. "The Guildmaster will also likely want to congratulate you, once he's done being melodramatic." He punctuated his statement by lightly tapping Wigglytuff's side with his beak and nudging a couple oran berries towards him.

"Aw, you're no fun, Chatot," Wigglytuff responded, finally abandoning his 'Grandmaster' voice as he sat back up. "I don't get to be the Grandmaster of All Things Bad very often, it's been so long since someone took the exam. And even longer since someone passed." He grabbed the oran berries, swallowing them whole before slowly starting to get to his feet. "Besides, that really did hurt."

Once he was fully back on his feet, he walked up to Flynn and Melody, beaming at them and dancing in place. "But enough about that! You did great, friends! Wonderful, splendid, amazing! You've passed with flying colors! I always love to see my guild friends come so far, and grow so much as explorers."

Flynn and Melody smiled back at him. His enthusiasm was a little overwhelming, but they'd gotten used to how he tended to be by now. "Thanks, Guildmaster."

"There are still some formalities left to make things official," Chatot added. "But that can wait until we get back to the guild."

The group remained there for a few more minutes, resting up a bit after all of the fighting, before starting the journey back. Thankfully, Mystifying Forest wasn't that far from Treasure Town, so the trip back didn't take too long, all things considered.

* * *

That evening, after everyone made it back to town, Chimecho went all-out preparing dinner, since it was the last time Flynn and Melody would be eating at the guild with everyone else. It was a little emotional, but everyone knew it was hardly goodbye. They would still be dropping by the guild almost every day to check the job boards, and they'd likely still cross paths with the other guild members fairly often around town.

Now that Team Sunrise had graduated, they couldn't keep staying in their old room in the guild, so they decided to move into the hidden den in Sharpedo Bluff that Melody had stayed in before.

Melody set down the treasure bag, before taking a look around and just letting it sink in. "We... We've actually done it. We're fully-fledged, graduated explorers now. It still feels a little surreal, to be honest. Graduating from a guild usually takes a good deal longer than this, from what I've heard. _Especially_ from Wigglytuff's Guild."

"I can understand why," Flynn said bluntly, getting a laugh from Melody despite how tired she was.

Once she managed to stifle her giggles, she continued, "I suppose this is now officially our Team Base, and our home. It's not too fancy or anything, but it's fairly cozy, and a bit bigger than our old room at the guild. I think it'll work nicely. What do you think, Flynn?"

Flynn glanced around, nodding in agreement. He stepped a bit closer to the 'mouth' of Sharpedo Bluff before adding, "...The view's certainly nice, too."

"...Yeah, it really is." Melody walked up to Flynn's side, joining him in appreciating the moonlit ocean view for a little bit.

Soon, however, Flynn let out a yawn, reminding the duo just how tired they still were after everything from earlier that day. Any burst of energy they'd gotten from the oran berries and reviver seeds had long since faded. After setting up their straw beds again, they practically collapsed into them. At least now that they had graduated, Loudred wouldn't be waking them up at the crack of dawn anymore, so they could sleep in a bit if they felt like it.

Before they both drifted off to sleep, Melody quietly spoke, just loud enough for Flynn to hear. "Tomorrow's a new start for our team. Whatever it has in store for us... let's make it another great day."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd expected this chapter would be a lot easier to write than the last one, but it still gave me a lot of trouble in its own ways. As with most chapters so far, I could probably keep nitpicking every little bit of this chapter forever if I let myself, but overall I'm pretty happy with it now. Again, feedback is always appreciated.


End file.
